In hopes of increasing the number of graduates, Mercer County Community College will open an office next month focusing on students’ first 30 credits.

“There is research that shows that if (students) get through the first 30 credits, the chances of finishing an associate’s degree and finishing a bachelor’s is significantly higher,” said Patricia Donohue, president of MCCC.

The First Thirty initiative follows a year of study under the guidance of the John N. Gardner Institute’s Foundations of Excellence program. The project has involved more than 300 two- and four-year colleges and universities across the country to develop standards that constitute a model first year.

Department information and data on what works will be gathered as students go through their first year at the college, said Mark Matzen, chairman of MCCC’s Board of Trustees.

“This project is about us making sure our professional staff, our faculty, the developmental office, the enrollment piece, everyone is looking at whether a student is having some hard times,” Matzen said. “It is a new way of thinking about the college as a whole and serving its purpose for the success of the student,” he added.

The college will appoint a faculty member who, instead of teaching for the next year and a half, would serve as assistant to the president for the First 30 initiative, reporting directly to Donohue and serving as part of the college’s executive team. The initiative will also have its own advisory board. The college pays the Gardner Institute for the use of its technology platform and consulting services a fee of $18,000 each year for two years, Donohue said.

“While we’re focusing on Mercer County Community College and making sure our students are a success, these results, and how we do this, will be reported back to Foundations and be part of a larger nationwide learning process,” Matzen said.

Mercer County Community College also plans to study students at the point of transfer to a four-year college. For example, college officials will see if students have taken the right courses to move on to a four-year degree.

It isn’t clear what the dropout rate for Mercer County Community College is.
“Some students sign up (for classes) and never show up, others drop classes within the first two weeks,” Donohue said, “It’s not as simple as how many courses got dropped.”

Donohue said students at MCCC on average take seven to eight credit hours a semester.